BREAKING NEWS: The Bragi Dash Have Launched!

Update January 6th, 2016: We weren’t quite at the where’s-the-money-Lebowski stage regarding the Bragi Dash Headphones, but initial backers of the device as well as digital audio enthusiasts were all getting a bit impatient. After all, in its February 2014 Kickstarter campaign, Bragi promised that the Dash would be in backers’ hands by October 2014. They pulled in over $3.3 million — an astonishing amount, especially given the campaign’s initial goal of $260,000 — and then got hit with delay after delay.

After resolving some BlueTooth issues and surmounting multiple other challenges, the Dash is out as of January 6! True, it’s 15 months after the deadline, which is definitely annoying if you wanted one for, say, Christmas 2014 (or even Christmas 2015), but let’s focus on the positive: it’s here, and if early reviews are true, it’s even better than we all anticipated.

Bragi Dash – Reviews and Responses

The Dash’s release is converging with CES 2016, so lots of industry insiders are getting a first look (and try) of the product they’ve been waiting so long to put in their ears.

On Bragi’s Facebook page, visitors can find lots of encouraging chatter as well as video reactions from CES attendees trying out the Dash for the first time.

Early reviews are in, too.

Engadget’s write-up from a few days ago praised the device’s easy set up, brilliant sound, amazing sensor accuracy, incredible audio transparency feature (which turns the ambient sound around you on or off), and overall slickness.

The Verge was also lavish in its compliments, and its review also featured a video of the writer using the highly anticipated wearable (or hearable, as Bragi calls it) at CES.

Wareable had a quick look at the Dash at CES 2016 and sounded pretty enthusistic in their preview.

Look for more Bragi Dash reviews in the coming weeks as more reviewers finally get their hands on a Dash.

Bragi Dash Shipping Dates

Getting your own hands on a Dash may take a few weeks, but you should be able to make it happen. Bragi’s goal is to have all manufactured units shipped to their logistics hubs by January 18, then ship to all initial backers within a week or two and then fulfil all other pre-orders by the middle of February.

Once those are out, Bragi should be able to start shipping the Dash to anyone who orders one.

Speaking of, you can order your own on Bragi’s site right now. The Dash is priced at $299 or €299, depending on where you live, and you should get yours around the end of February. Starting in March, the Dash should be for sale on Amazon and a few other online retailers.

In other words, you should expect the Bragi Dash at your doorstep:

January 23 – 29, if you’re one of the initial backers (the black Bragi Dash will be shipped first, then the white ones)

January 30 – February 15, if you’ve pre-ordered the Dash

After February 15th, if you order right now from the official website

After March 1st, when the Dash is available on Amazon and other online retailers

It’s much too soon to say what the impact of the Bragi Dash will be, but if the excitement of the past two years and the preliminary feedback are any indication, this is a product that could very well revolutionise the wearables — or hearables — market.

Bragi Dash Headphones Specs and Details

In case you missed the hype over the past almost-two years, the Bragi Dash is a combination wireless earbud and fitness tracker all in one. It’s got a four gig capacity and several three-axis sensors, it monitors your heart rate, and it’s totally waterproof up to one metre. What’s more, it’s tiny, it’s buttonless, it’s smart, and it replaces several devices you probably already own. A small carrying/charging case keeps the two earbuds powered, no matter where you go.

Currently, the Dash is available in black or white. Sleeves in several different colours were promised on the initial Kickstarter page, but there’s little information about their availability right now. Our guess is that just getting the hardware out was the priority.

Good Things Take Time

It’s been well over a year since the conclusion of the Bragi Dash’s hugely successful $3 million Kickstarter campaign. If you were one of the project’s backers, or if you’ve become interested in getting your own Dash, you’re probably wondering what’s going on with this great looking product. Fear not: we’ve got some information.

The bottom line is that yes, things are on track for a release soon. However, as with all great products, complete development does not take place overnight, and there have been a few setbacks. Here are the details.

First, What’s the Bragi Dash?

Billed as the world’s first wireless smart in-ear headphones, the Bragi Dash Headphones is like a set of ear buds that also tracks your activity. Or, it can also be described as a fitness tracker that you wear in your ear and plays music. It basically takes all of the functions that you need when you’re out and about and puts them all in a small package — or packages, rather, since there’s one for each ear.

So: the Dash can hold 4GB of music and also sync with the music library on your smartphone. It’s wireless and works as a BlueTooth headset (though you can purchase a leash if you’re worried about losing one). It has a three-axis accelerometer to track distance, steps, pace, and cadence. Plus, it has sensors to measure your heart rate, oxygen saturation, and energy spent. The current price tag for the Dash is $299 USD, or about £192. Yes, that’s a lot of money for such a small device, but given all that it does, the cost seems competitive.

Lots of Buzz

The Bragi Dash Kickstarter campaign generated lots of interest, and the company easily raised more than ten times its original goal. And why not? It’s a single product that replaces several others, and if it’s done well, it could really revolutionise how people listen to music and track their activity.

At the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show this past January in Las Vegas, the Dash was honoured with five awards, including Best of Innovation and two Best of CES awards in wearables as well as digital health and fitness. The company was on hand to give attendees a hands-on look, but the product is still not ready for the market.

The Competition – Earin and Freewavz

Thanks to Kickstarter, which has helped breathe life into the wireless ear bud industry over the past year, Bragi is not the only manufacturer of these tiny accessories. Earin and Freewavz are Dash’s two main competitors in the game right now, and save for the few similarities in technology and functionality, these devices are a whole lot different from each other.

Both Earin and Freewavz launched their Kickstarter campaigns back in 2014, and only the Earin has been made available to the cosumer yet. There’s however high expectation that Earin and Bragi will make their official releases before the end of this year.

Bragi Dash vs. Earin

Right from the design to the performance and controls, these two long-awaited products are plastered with differences, with perhaps the most distinct contrast lying in the size and design.

General Specs

The Dash, which is worn within the antihelix of the ear, weighs 13.8g and is slightly larger than its counterpart, the Earin, which is approximately 7.2g lighter and is inserted completely inside the ear thanks to its pint size nature.

The Dash is particularly designed for fitness purposes because of its oxygen saturation and heart rate measuring sensors, while the Earin is by far a better option for music lovers.

To highlight on this, the Dash Headphones come with a 100 mAh battery which lasts for 3-4 hours of use (perfect for lengthy outdoor workouts), while the Earin has a shorter-life 50 mAh battery which can last an estimated 2.5-3 hours of continuous use.

Battery

Just for the record, both batteries take approximately 1 hour to fully charge. The Dash is also water-resistant, good for pro swimmers who wish to monitor their body performance, an aspect partially shared in the Earin, which can only handle a splash of water or a dusty surrounding.

Speakers

Both products have high definition speakers with exclusive features including the Knowles SR Siren in the Earin and the double barrier noise isolation in the Dash. In case of a group run or workout session where you may need to keep one ear open, both of these accessories offer the single earphone mode where you can completely switch off one earphone. The Earin takes the upper hand in this, though, as you can use either one earphone at any time, unlike the Dash whose left earphone cannot function independently.

Additional Features

Other additional features include a 3-axis accelerometre, pulse oximetre, body temperature sensors, environmental microphones, user’s voice microphone and a 4GB internal memory, all present in the Dash but absent in the Earin. These probably validate the slightly higher cost of the Bragi Dash ($299) compared to that of the Earin ($277).

On a slightly different note, there have been debates on social media over the necessity of the Earin’s tininess, and as it looks, a good proportion of potential customers would wish for a larger design.

Most people are particularly not comfortable with the fact that these accessories have to be placed deep inside the ears to fit. It’s not only itching but also “unnoticeable to people in your surrounding who may want to communicate to you”.

Bragi Dash vs. FreeWavz

FreeWavz is by far the largest of these three Bluetooth headsets. It weighs 16g, thrice as heavy as Earin and is worn over the ear, just like ordinary headphones.

In terms of features and functionality, there are more similarities than differences between the Dash Headphones and Freewavz. They are both designed for fitness and sporting purposes; they both have accelerometres, Pulse oximetres, body temperature sensors, environmental microphones, and user’s voice microphones among other features. Even their retail price is the same!

Performance Contrasts

Perhaps what sets these two wireless headphones apart from each other are small specific aspects of their features that combine to bring notable performance contrasts. For instance, both have 100 mAh built-in batteries which take one hour to charge, but the FreeWavz’s takes 6-8 hours to die compared to the Dash’s 3-4 hours of life; the FreeWavz has an absorbance IR/R pulse oximetre while the Dash has a reflective IR/R; both have environmental microphones though FreeWavz’s are more effective as they feature multiple feed-through nodes.

While the Dash has an internal memory of 4GB which can hold more than 1000 mp3 files, FreeWavz has no such memory and one has to stream music directly from a Bluetooth paired device such as a smartphone. Each of the FreeWavz earphones can be independent of the other in single-earphone mode while, as stated earlier, only the right earphone of the Dash can work independently.

From a waterproofness perspective, FreeWavz is water-resistant while the Dash is water-proof. This means that neither can be affected by rain or small fluid splashes but only the Dash can withstand submergence, making it the best option among the three for swimmers.

The Latest Developments

While the Dash is able to store music, Bragi is looking into partnerships with music streaming providers. This could potentially create a huge added value to a product that already looks pretty impressive. What’s more, they seem to be taking consumer opinion into careful consideration.

Here’s what’s happening: at the end of July, Bragi asked its Facebook followers about their favourite music services and which ones would be a good fit for Bragi. A few days later, Bragi thanked everyone for their input and assured their followers that all comments were being carefully considered. What’s more, Bragi also indicated that future partnerships with sports product manufacturers and devices in other sectors are on the horizon. It’s definitely an exciting time for Bragi.

So What’s the Timeline?

In July 2015, Bragi released a news update explaining where they were with product and app development. Specifically, the company is solving audio distortion problems by adjusting the product’s waterproofing, tweaking the construction of the ear buds, and testing out silicone sleeves. They have been debugging certain aspects of the electronics and improving the overall durability. Plus, they have been improving the Dash software and plugging away at app development.

There’s also the matter of international certifications: FCC, CE, UL, USB, BT, and others. Finally, the overall user experience of the Dash Headphones is being adjusted, though from a short video that the company released a few days ago, in which Bragi’s UX designer demonstrates how to use the Dash, this interactivity seems to be mostly complete.

Bragi Dash September Updates

According to a recent post on Bragi’s blog, the Dash’s functionality is coming along quite well. Visitors can watch a company representative demonstrate BlueTooth pairing and music streaming from a smartphone or other paired device. It all seems fairly straightforward and intuitive — a series of taps and holds on the in-ear gadget does the trick — which has undoubtedly left patient early backers more eager than ever to get their hands on this great little device.

Additionally, according to some recent Facebook chatter, the Dash is finally expected to ship in October 2015. That’s more than a year later than the original target date. However, if the Dash performs as well as it’s expected to, then the wait will have been worth it. The company has been extremely sympathetic to the concerns of their early backers, but they maintain that this is a difficult product to manufacture and that they hope to have it in consumers’ hands as soon as possible.

The Dash November 2015 Updates

Apart from the delayed release date which has kind of marred the project’s promising progress, everything else about Bragi and their Dash, from awesome product upgrades to creation of new job opportunities, has been downright cool. The young German company has had the release date and shipment of its product pushed back a couple of times before mainly due to certification issues, but according to reports from close accomplices, the long awaited product is up and running and could ship before mid-November.

The “Drop Test” and other upgrades

If by any chance we’re going to get a better and more functional product than what we would have received more than 12 months earlier, then the wait is worth it. Bragi raised more than its fundraiser target within the first two days of their Kickstarter campaign back in 2014, and has received more than 600,000 orders ever since, which reminds them of the hearts they would disenchant if they released a less-than-perfect product.

To cover their backs, Bragi have spent the better part of the last one year making amendments and correcting the vulnerabilities and challenges present in their original product. Release was set for April this year, but after detecting microscopic cracks on the earbud’s casing that could let in water, the company had to push back the date in order to buy time for rectification. According to Nikolaj Hviid, founder and CEO of Bragi, it has not been an easy task coming up with the Dash, keeping in mind it’s a physical product, so tiny for that matter, and not some kind of software.

The company has been releasing test videos for various aspects of the Dash, including Bluetooth connectivity, sound distortion and waterproofness. Early this month the company posted on their official Facebook page a (vertically filmed, ugh) “drop test” video of their product as a response to numerous requests from potential customers who are concerned about resistance to shock of the wireless headphones, which are perceptibly subject to frequent falling. Though verifying the validity of such a test relayed over video could be difficult, the Dash headphones still worked perfectly after the drop.

Bragi scores $22 Million worth of financing from unnamed investors

Seems everyone is optimistic about Bragi’s future and its capacity to become a hearable behemoth in the coming years. It could be seen in the enormous backing it received for its Kickstarter campaign and the number of preorders that followed. But now there’s something even bigger, probably the biggest milestone ever hit by such a young company; a $22 million funding from a group of American, European and Asian investors.

Bragi has been able to attract renowned investors from all across the planet who also believe in the project, and this does not just guarantee us continuity of a company that has brought our wire-free-world dream so close to reality, but also embolden expansion and innovation of more and more products of this kind.

But as we appreciate the steps in the right direction being made by Bragi, we also hope that we’re going to receive our damn packages before the end of this month!

Bragi Dash Release Date

More than five months since the original release date of April, which never came to pass, the wait for the much anticipated Bragi Dash headphones could finally be drawing to a close. According to a post on Bragi’s official Facebook Page on the 21st of this month, the developer kits are up and running, and shipping of the first sets has already taken place. Meaning? Yes you guessed it right, we’re still going to wait a little longer for the final version of the Dash, because this pre-series prototype is basically for developers who wish to integrate Dash functionality with their applications.

To some people who think they’ve had the longest pending preorders ever, it’s been sort of a series of false promises from Bragi, who’ve had the ‘difficulty to manufacture’ warrant in their defense for the last couple of months, but now with a few units in the hands of developers, we have a reason to believe that the technology really exists and the daily use version is finally going to be on the market sooner rather than later.

According to Bragi’s official website, the developer kits are 95% of the finished product, hence they’re not fully optimised for daily use, and the consumer version will be made available immediately developers send in their feedbacks on researches and developments.

Does that mean the official release is set for this month? Well, there is a high possibility that happens, but as it stands right now, the decision to launch the product is not solely Bragi’s, thus the release date proximity from now remains anyone’s guess.

Author

Daniel is the resident Editor-in-Chief of the Appcessories blog, and is abreast of all the latest developments. He has always been enthusiastic about technology, and this has helped him to bridge the gap between techies and mainstream readers. An avid mac user; he would never be caught without his iPad air, iPhone and Mac Powerbook. Daniel splits his time between London and Glasgow, but is always wired into appcessories wherever he is.

i too have pre ordered it as one of the quite early pre-orderer i guess, i made a pre-order in April 2015. I have never lost my interest in Bragi Dash ever since the campaign started on Kickstarter, and i have contacted Bragi at the end of September this year. Their responds is that the early pre-orderer who placed order before October 2015 would likely to get hands on the Dash by the end of November. Since it’s first come first serve basis, people who order after September 2015 might be put in a long que for waiting, but i’m very excited to get hands on the Dash, and hope everyone else who pre-ordered the dash is the same as well.
It’s worth waiting for

I’ll look forward for some reviews and until they can give more precise shipping estimates(and how long those waiting times will eventually settle to be). Clearly the best BT headset option at the moment.

I have a pre-order but as far as I know, at least 5 dev people have received their dashes already. They said they were going to send an update on the progress on friday but it didnt happen. I assume they’re going to update it sometime along this week.

The original kickstarter development unit (which I ordered) was to be for July 2014.

I received my Dash dev unit last month (dec 2015). My comments-
This Kickstarter project has been a fiasco. I have not yet even bothered taking the development Dash out of the package. What is the point? It was due 1 1/2 years ago. The generous timeslot I allotted for development of my software is long gone. Any market lead advantage over the big players has surely long since evaporated (for example Apple has had a patent for similar technology for a year now. And other companies have products along similar lines.)
I have been developing, managing and producing embedded products myself for 25 years. Had one of my products been so poorly specified, designed, developed, QA’d, managed, executed and produced, I would have been fired long ago, not to mentioned sued by customers and partners.

I hope it turns out to be a good consumer product, but Bragi has no credibility for me. They do seem to be able to ratchet up the hype enough to have gotten 25 million in funds. So it would seem the company, if not the product is a success.

Wow, you’re a cry baby. You would think if you really worked in the industry you would know the process it takes to put out good products. By all means though, just leave that $300 product in the box, and wine like a 3 year old about how you haven’t benefited from someone else’s invention.

hey, could you do me a favor? When I knew about the dash, I’ve already missed the kickstarter, and I’m not a pre-order too. I don’t want to wait until March or maybe later when it come out:-(. Is there any possibility that you can sell your Dash(dev) to me plz? I’m really interested in this product and is dying to try it ASAP. If possible, I can give you a reasonable(may be higher) price and the shipping fee is on me. Plz plz plz, could you do me a favor and sell it to me???

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